


Breakfast at Trixie's

by SunflowersAndSunsets



Category: Call the Midwife
Genre: Angst, Autumn, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Hotels, How Do I Tag, I promise, London, Multi, Tim is Tim, barbra is just too nice, don't worry the nuns will show up, lord help me i love these characters, nobody asked for this but oh well, patsy and deels are actually adorable sndjsnncuuwak, phyllis is scary but a good scary, shelagh is the mother we all need, trixie is a bi-con, val and lucille need happiness so theyre getting happiness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:01:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29808804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunflowersAndSunsets/pseuds/SunflowersAndSunsets
Summary: After leaving the midwifery business to start a small B&B, our main 9 find the place in shambles. They all must work together to renovate and run the hotel, even when there are a few (by which I mean a lot) of mishaps along the way.
Relationships: Delia Busby/Patsy Mount, Lucille Anderson/Valerie Dyer, Trixie Franklin/Barbara Gilbert
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	1. 1 - The Match of the Century

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! Welcome to my first proper fic of CTM! I've been planning this for a while and I'm only just starting to write and post it now - I hope you enjoy and please tell me how I can improve! <3
> 
> -Notes- This is a modern AU, and if any characters died *cough cough barbra*, they didn't in this universe. Also I am god awful at spelling so please excuse any mistakes, point them out and I will try and fix them! :))

The small fleet of black cabs pulled up onto the side of the street, the trio of taxis seemingly coming to a stop in unison. 

Valerie gave a small smile. They were finally here, after months and months of planning and preparation.

And god, it felt good.

She glanced over at the other two people inside her taxi and took in their facial expressions. While Shelagh emitted nervous, Lucille's face radiated pure joy - they were like complete opposites.

Val grabbed the door handle and pushed it open, letting the crisp air of the London autumn overwhelm her senses as she stepped outside of the car, grabbing her wallet and handing the driver a fistful of notes. As soon as the other two were out, he drove off, leaving the group alone on the unfamiliar streets.

"I still don't understand why we couldn't have been dropped off right outside. I mean, who cares about parking fines? We aren't exactly going to dawdle, are we?" Valerie spun around, pulling her coat further over her shoulder as she turned to face Phyllis.

"'S alright Phyllis, nothing like an autumn walk! And besides, we gotta get used to our surroundings, don't we?" Valerie chipped in, her voice loud and clear. Lucille nodded behind her, using her gloved hand to grab Val's colder and gloveless one. She gave a small smile before turning back to the others. "So... which way are we headed?"

Tim cleared his throat from the back of the group, holding up a tourists map of London that he had grabbed earlier on. He studied it before a brief second before tilting his head back up. "We need to walk down this street, take the second left and then keep walking. It should be somewhere on our left after than - you'll know it when you see it, right?" He turned to face Trixie.

"Of course, I've been studying this place for weeks on end, sweetie." Trixie gave a small laugh before turning swiftly to point in the direction Timothy had said. "Well then, intrepid adventures, I say we should go find our new home!"

And so they set off, Trixie, Shelagh and Tim leading the march with Barbra, Patsy, Delia and Phyllis close behind. Lucille and Val lagged behind, still clasping each other's hands in quiet contentedness. 

"So, what do you make of London proper?" Val asked her counterpart.

"It's pretty... big to say the least." Lucille replied with a soft chuckle. "But I'm sure I'll learn to love it. Besides, how could I not love it when you're here?"

"I am amazing, I know." Val joked as they continued their walk along the streets of London, her attention slightly focused on trying to get both of their footsteps in sync. 

"I'm just scared. Talking on a whole hotel, just the nine of us... it's a big feat." Lu stated as she wrapped her lemon yellow scarf tighter around her. "What if everything falls through?"

"Have you met the rest of these guys, Lucy? They're like tiny powerhouses. Phyllis is scary dedicated, Patsy is super strong, Shelagh is so organised, Barbra, Delia and Tim are the kindest people in the world, Trixie's got confidence and communication skills for days and well, you're amazing at bonding with everyone you meet. I think we've got this covered."

Lucille gave a small nod before turning to face her newly-announced girlfriend. "Don't forget yourself either. You're the toughest person I've met and trust me, it's hard to beat my mother in that regard." she said as the two turned around the street corner. 

"I would just call that being Cockney but I'll take it."

"Maybe, but stil-" 

The two saw the others had stopped and swivelled to face the building before them.

This was it.

\---

It had been Barbra's dream to start with. She'd always wanted to own a little hotel in Paris, but she knew that was a stretch - besides, she only knew how to say 'Hello' and doing that would only get her so far.

It had been Trixie who started to try and make the dream a reality - with a little adjustment of course. She and Barbra had spends hours on end flicking through buildings in London and creating dozens of Pinterest mood boards on French Interior decoration. Everyone thought they were mad, after all - they were just two overworked nurses in a world filled with billions of people.

Then the private hospital they worked at shut down due to lack of funding, and none of them had anywhere to go.

So, after that, the little dream of a small hotel didn't seem so far-fetched. 

At that point, there were 7. Barbra, Trixie, Lucille, Val, Phyllis, Shelagh and Patsy. 

Then, when Delia decided she would go wherever Patsy goes, it became 8.

And finally, when Shelagh decided the Turners were going to move into a London apartment, Tim game along and made 9.

They had ideas, hopes, dreams for this little three-storey Bed and Breakfast in the middle of central London. It was close to the train station, it was surrounded by restaurants and interesting tourist spots, it looked cute and vintage on the photos...

Clearly those photos had been taken many, many years ago.

The place was in shambles. 

In fact, Patsy though to herself, it was more than that. It was quite possibly the worst looking building in London.

The brickwork was more cement than actual brick, giving the place a dull grey look instead of a vibrant red one. The windows were cracked, paint chips from the off-white windowsills scattered around on the unkept lawn. Weeds and vines sprouted out at all angles, climbing and twisting up the entrance towards the roof, which itself had endless amounts of hole and moss covering it's surface. 

If a building could be an ugly duckling, this would certainly be the ugliest of ducklings around. 

Patsy took a look at the others in the group, and all of them had mixed emotions - Shelagh had a facial expression of disgust quite like her own, Delia looked a bit disheartened which in turn tugged at Patsy's own heart and Barbra.

Oh god Barbra. It looked as though her heart had just broken in two.

Her large puppy-dog eyes had tears springing into them, her hands started wavering, and she could have swore she heard a small pained whimper escape from the girl. 

Bless her little cotton socks.

Patsy would have gone to comfort her, but Trixie had already filled that role, wrapping her arms around the brunette and pulling her into a tight hug. Her own face was statuesque, but the ginger could see with her trained eye her mouth twitching slowly into a miniscule frown, breaking her ruse of calmness.

So, instead, she turned to face Delia and pulled her into a lose embrace. Her partner smiled and shuffled closer, stealing the hat sitting on top of Patsy's head and putting it firmly onto her own with a small grin. Patsy gave a look of mock surprise before Delia ruffled her hair, which turned the mock shock into genuine shock. Her hands quickly went to her temple, trying to smooth down the stray hairs quickly.

"Here, hold still..." Delia removed her gloves and helped flatten her hair down, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "Forgive me?"

"Always." Patsy blushed slightly. "But ruffle my hair once more and I might not feel the same way.

They turned back to the others, who had engaged in a quiet conversation. 

"I just don't understand how we're going to renovate this place. I mean, it's like a pigs sty..." Shelagh spoke softly, Tim and Lucille nodding in agreement.

"Look, it's a big job, I know, but we've made it this far. We can't just give up." Phyllis spoke strongly, her fists clenching and unclenching slightly every few seconds.

"There's no hope..." Barbra's small, wavering voice piped up. "We haven't got enough money to do something like that!"

Trixie took a large breath and stepped forward, leaving Barbra open for Val to take over the comforting.

"Are you kidding? This place is perfect. Those windows will let loads of natural light when we get them fixed up, this lawn would look perfect with some violets and roses around the edges, and those vines give the place a beautiful natural look. You just need to look at the big picture, darlings!" Though Trixie had a smile plastered on her face, her eyes just didn't reflect the glee her mouth was trying to portray.

Clearly Barbra didn't pick that up though, because it seemed to lift her spirits. Seeing that made Trixie's smile seem a bit more genuine. 

"Well then, we might as well go see what it's like on the indoors. Because I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm frozen!" Val said, ushering everyone inside briskly. 

As the gaggle of ex-nurses (plus son and girlfriend) walked down the jagged cobblestone path and Tim grabbed the door handle, twisting it thoroughly until it opened.

But it didn't.

Tim persisted, wiping his hand on his sleeve and trying again, but with no luck. He turned around and shook his head.

"Too stiff, it won't budge. The inside's probably rusted over or something..."

"Here, let me try." Patsy stepped forward and approached the door, clasping the handle and twisting it. Tim was right - it was stuck. But that wasn't going to stop her. 

Patsy angles herself sideways and barged at the door, knocking it with her shoulder once, twice, three times.

And the door opened. She gave a triumphant smile and backed up, making way for the others as they filed in, all expressing their gratitude.

Finally, as Lucille and Val walked through the entrance, all she heard was one whisper.   
  


"I told you, she's the strongest one out of all of us." 

That made her smile.

\--- 

The inside, though not as overgrown with ivy and other assorted greenery as the outside of the building, was still far from picturesque. Quite far indeed. 

The cracks in the walls spanned what felt like several acres, and everything was encrusted in several layers of dust. There was a slight musty smell of alcohol which made Trixie's throat close up slightly, but she did her best to ignore it. Shelagh reached for a lightswitch and flicked it, only to find they had no power.

"Well, good start..." Tim said sarcastically, as he pulled out his phone to turn on the flash.

As soon as the harsh light filled the room, two pairs of beady eyes settled on the group from the corner.

Barbra's scream pierced the stunned silence. "What is it, what is it?!" She scuttled behind Trixie, the blonde pulling her close for protection.

Having Barbra close to her felt good.

But that was besides the point.

And anyways, Trixie was straight. Straight as a ruler.

A bendy ruler.

Phyllis stepped forward, ever taking the place of the 'fearless leader' and squinted at the small animal. "Looks like a racoon. They've probably been living here since it was abandoned."

"Little demons." Valerie stated, her eyebrows knitting into a look of disgust. "They're like little thieves in animal from. Hate them."

"What have you got against them, honey? It's just an animal." Lucille asked, her mouth sat in a confused smile.

"One of the critters stole my bracelet when I was a little 'un. Never forgave them."

Delia gave a laugh from next to Tim and Patsy. "Well, I guess we have to share our space with one of them now. They're kind of cute, in a scruffy kind of way..." She trailed off dreamily.  
  


"I hate to tell you Delia, but I don't think having a racoon in our Bed and Breakfast would be the most... enticing thing to customers?" Shelagh smiled, moving closer to the racoon to stand next to Phyllis. "How are we meant to get it out then?"

"Chuck some stuff at it until it runs away?" Patsy suggested, getting a light hit on the shoulder from Delia.

"That's animal cruelty, cariad. We are not hitting the animal with our suitcases, and I will keep telling you that until you drop it." She stated simply, raising her eyebrows as Patsy mumbled something about never mentioning a suitcase.

Suddenly, Trixie had an idea, and reached into her pocket to locate an unopened packet of crisps. "what if we tempted it away with these? As much as I would hate to waste a perfectly good pack of Salt and Vinegar crisps, it would work, right?"

Phyllis nodded, taking the bag off of her without so much as a thank you.

Bit rude, Trixie thought to herself. That was supposed to be her dinner.

Phyllis opened the packet, removing the biggest crisps she could find and popping one into her own mouth.

Even ruder. 

The raccoon settled it's eyes on the older woman and creeped towards her slowly. Barbra gave her friend a knowing glance that said this was going to end badly, which Trixie reciprocated willingly.

It was truly the match of the century.

Phyllis slowly walked towards the door with the raccoon - who was entirely entranced by the snack - in tow. Shelagh slowly opened the door and the rest of the 9 parted away, not wanting to be close to the animal with the cunning eyes. just as soon as they were y the entrance, the ex-midwife chucked the bag formerly known as Trixie's tea outside and the animal scarpered after it, turning to give the group one final dirty look before Patsy shut the door firmly. 

"First neighbour we meet was a wild animal and we still couldn't make a good impression on that. This is definitely going to go well." Tim rolled his eyes, placing his rucksack in the corner of the room.

"Now, Phyllis, I'm assuming you're going to be sharing your sandwich with me considering you fed my food to our guest?" Trixie enquired, debating going to put her things next to Tim's before deciding against it due to the absolutely ghastly state the floor was in.

"You offered it up, lass. Not my problem." Phyllis unpacked a small torch from her bag and wandered off, beginning to investigate the premises further. the blonde gave a wistful sigh, trying to ignore the ache of hunger that she could already start to feel creeping into her stomach.

"You can share mine, Trix. It's only ham and cheese but it's better than nothing..." Barbra handed over a slice of her sandwich to her friend, only to be met with a small shake of the head.

"Sweetie, it's fine. it's not like I haven't skipped a meal before, I'll manage." Trixie gave a smile but still felt the sandwich being placed in her hand.

"I insist." Barbra said curtly before grabbing her belongings and running off to search more.

Yep, Trixie thought. _Definitely_ straight.

\---

The gang climbed slowly up the stairs to the third floor, the wooden planks creaking dangerously underfoot. They had scoured the rest of the building, working out what was salvageable - a currently short list - and what they would need to get rid of. Currently, the 'chuck out' list was at least 5 times larger than the other. 

In other words, the whole situation was looking bleak, and Phyllis Crane couldn't deny it.

The third floor was the worst of the bunch. While the lower floors had more grime, the highest up area had what seemed like years of near irreversible water damage. The walls, floors and ceilings were all dampened and covered in a dark mould, small patches of light filtering in through bare spots in the roof that gave the setting an almost evil and mystical aesthetic. 

"Good lord. Can we even use this?" Shelagh muttered, moving over to the latch and opening the dirt-encrusted window to get a full view of the situation.

"I'm sure we can do something..." Even Trixie, the one who had tried to be in high spirits about every room they'd came across so far, had no words to describe the top floor. 

Delia held her nose and her face morphed into a look of disgust. "Why is that smell so strong?! It was bearable further down but this, fy duw, it's terrible." 

"We don't have to actually stay here while we renovate it, do we? Because if we do I'm not taking any of the rooms up here..." Tim said, backing slowly down the steps again only to be dragged back up by Valerie who was stood behind him.

"We'll make sure you get the room where it's strongest Tim, don't worry about it." Valerie gave the boy a grin which her returned along with a small, subtle roll of his eyes.

Phyllis shook her head. "We will have to hire someone to do this. We simply can't DIY this."

"I thought you said you would rather die than give in to the high prices of the nearby tradesmen?" Patsy quipped, being met by a few warning glances.

"That was before I saw this place, lass. Perhaps if Delia and yourself had made time to look at the location while you were down here, we wouldn't be in this predicament."

Patsy sighed. "Sorry, sorry. Perhaps if we'd been given the correct address we might have been able to find it."

"That was my fault, apparently there were two streets with the same name..." Barbra raised her hand guiltily. 

"Besides, we probably wouldn't have been able to find another place in our price range." Lucille added. "This was probably our only option. So let's just be glad we have it to begin with."

The group nodded in agreement before all padding back down the stairs.

"So, what are we actually going to call this place?" Barbra asked, gripping the uneven handrail as she walked down the stairs. She didn't trust herself on these surprisingly steep steps and she didn't trust them not to break with every movement she made. 

"I don't think we ever actually gave that any thought..." Shelagh followed the rest of the group from the back, shutting the door to the 3rd floor quickly before quickening her pace to catch up with the others. "How did we not think about that? The first thing you remember about a place is it's name."

"True... how about Fernando's? Like that island they go to on the dates in 'Take Me Out'?" 

"Delia, I swear I told you to stop watching that so much, you're gaining an obsession!"

"Well sorry, I just find it thoroughly entertaining to watch straight males failing to be actually impressive."

"Okay, you have a point there."

"Are you two done with your slight-but-not-really argument?" Val crossed her arms and cast a kind yet slightly annoyed look up the stairs to Patsy and Delia, nearly losing her balance in the process. "And anyways, Take Me Out isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Deels. I speak the truth." Val stifled a laugh.

"How about the Shambles hotel? It's rather fitting for the current state, don't you think?" Tim commented, gaining him a glare from Phyllis and his mother. 

"Oh!" Trixie exclaimed. "Now I may seem slightly narcissistic and self-centred but... How about 'Breakfast at Trixie's?"

Barbra gave a smile. "Like Breakfast at Tiffany's? That's one of my favourite films!"

Phyllis chose not to comment on the light blush that fell onto Trixie's cheeks, and instead gave a small nod.

"Breakfast at Trixie's... I like it."


	2. 2- repetitive beats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group have to rough it out at the newly named 'Breakfast at Trixie's, armed with 4 beds, several coats and a single blanket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi again! i was so hyped about this story i've managed to get this chapter done in less than a day - i had already wrote some of it but publishing the first chapter just ignited super-speed inside me or something.
> 
> so anyways, i hope you enjoy! <3

"All full again. Seriously, how many people decided to stay in London the same day we moved here?" Shelagh put her phone down, an exasperated sigh escaping her lips. She'd tried 4 hotels in the area, ranging from 5-star on the other side of town to a 2-star place a few blocks down - no beds whatsoever.

Sure, a party of 9 were bound to be hard to place, but not that hard.

"What are we meant to do then? We have like 4 useable beds, our coats, Lucille's emergency blanket which I couldn't be more thankful for right now, and a torch. Plus, it's like 8 degrees outside and we currently have zero ways to keep ourselves warm." Barbra became the voice of reason as she wrapped her now-sacred blanket from Lucille around her shoulders tighter. 

"Well, we've had to face worse than this before, haven't we? We were midwives, sweeties. We've seen it all." Trixie said, edging closer to Barbra and taking half of the blanket she was in turn offered.

"Well, not... all of us... were." Tim spoke in between bites of his chocolate bar. Shelagh turned to face him, giving him a look she knew he would get.

"Don't eat with your mouth full."

"That doesn't matter, anyways. You and Delia are honorary Nonnatuns, whether you want it or not." Trixie smiled. "And that means you can get through anything."

"So, what are we doing? Sleeping here?" Patsy enquired.

"I mean, you see anywhere else we can go?" Val sighed as she unwrapped her granola bar.

"Fair enough."

"So what are we doing with sleeping arrangements? As Barbra said, we do only have 4 beds." Lucille asked, eyeing up her blanket but feeling too bad that she'd be stealing it from Barbra. Val noticed this and hung her coat over Lucille's shoulders, smiling warmly at her.

"Well, Tim and I will have to share. Will you two couples want your own beds?" 

Patsy nodded. "I'm sure that would be nice if it isn't too much of an inconvenience."

"Not at all. I guess that means Phyllis, Barbra and I will have to share." Trixie sighed. "Though, since we're three to a bed, I kindly request we don't have the one on the top floor - I don't think I could cope with that dreadful smell along with having to share with Babs."

"Oi, I'm not that bad!" Barbra playfully hit Trixie on the side of her head and gave her a cheeky grin.

"You snore, sweetie. How am I supposed to get my eight hours while it sounds like a tractor is beside me?" As she saw her friends face fall slightly, she changed her statement. "A very kind and amazing tractor, of course!"

Saved it just in time Trixie, Shelagh thought as Barbra's eyes brightened up again.

"That's fine though. Pats and I wouldn't mind taking the top floor, would we cariad?" Patsy agreed with her significant other, nodding her head slowly.

"I guess we'll just have to find some nose plugs." The redhead laughed heartily.

"Okay," Shelagh began, "I guess Tim and I will take the second floor room, and you guys", she gestured to the five who would be sharing the ground floor, "can figure out your arrangements."

"Alright then. It's quite late anyways," Phyllis stated as she checked the time on her watch - 9:48. "We should probably go now so we can start renovation early in the morning." Everyone nodded in agreement; the journey to Central London had been quite the chaotic one ranging from lost luggage of Valerie's to the near-pickpocket of Trixie before Tim spotted the guy just in time.

It hadn't been the smoothest of journeys, but it was certainly one of the more exciting ones Shelagh had been on in her life.

\---

Never in her life had Delia thought she would be lying on the top floor of a near-destroyed building, huddled under Patsy's coat to keep warm. 

It hadn't been on the top of her bucket list in life. 

"Not the most romantic first night I imagined." Patsy chuckled from beside the welsh woman, shuffling closer to her girlfriend. Delia felt the cold on her skin as she brushed against her, and she wrapper her arms around her to stop the ginger from shivering.

"Same, but at least we get a bed to ourselves. I can't imagine how the three downstairs are going to fit into one..." 

"Well I wish them luck. At least they get the blanket." Patsy rolled her eyes and she rested her head on Delia's shoulder, some stray pieces of the gingers hair falling onto her face. 

"Well, cariad, we get to be cold together. Isn't that just the peak of romance?" 

"No."

"Well... fine." 

Delia turned over onto her side, her eyes meeting Patsy's narrowed ones. She gave a small smile, which was returned quickly. 

"So, what job are you planning on asking Phyllis to take on, when y'know, we actually finish this giant renovation job?" Delia questioned, raising her eyebrows slightly.

"I was thinking cook - I don't exactly trust any of the rest of you in the kitchen. I mean have you met the others? Barbra would just run around in a panic, Val and Lucille would be too busy being lovey-dovey, Trixie would probably forget she's cooking and set the whole place on fire and Tim's still a teenager. The only person I'd even consider letting over the threshold would be Shelagh." Patsy chuckled quietly, not wanting to disturb the others. 

"What about me?" Delia pouted.

"Remember what I said about Lucille and Valerie? I think that would probably apply to us too."

"Hmph. Fair point..." Delia smiled as she pressed her lips onto Patsy's forehead, her dull pink lipstick leaving a faint tinge on her skin after the kiss that was barely visible in the moonlight. "But I still want to see you work your magic." The welsh woman giggled as Patsy returned the kiss to her cheek.

"Fine. But we'll have to impose a rule - stay at least 2 feet away at all times, I don't want you distracting me from the pastries."

"Hold up, you're cooking pastries too? You had best save some for me, love."

"I think the others will have demolished it all before you even get near. You know what Barbra's sweet tooth is like, and you know how partial Phyllis is to a Danish." Patsy mumbled, her eyes closing slowly and her words getting gradually slower.

"Yeah, that's a shame, I was looking forward to trying some of thos..." Delia trailed off as she felt her girlfriends arms go limp, and chose to move the coat further over to Patsy's side of the bed instead of finishing her sentence.

"Sleep well, Pats..." She whispered, closing her own eyes in an attempt to drift off into a deep slumber.

\---

Timothy Turner was not happy about this arrangement. Not one bit.

He had been under the impression that, since there were two people in the bed and there was 1 coat between them, that him and his mum would be sharing it equally.

Equally being the key word. 

But apparently, Shelagh hadn't gotten the memo and decided to take all of it for herself, leaving Tim feeling rather cold and rather sorry for himself. 

Sure, he could try and pull some of the covers over to his side, but that would probably wake her up and she would reprimand him for being up so late, especially when they had a busy day ahead. 

He could try and ask if anyone had a blanket/coat spare, but it was clear they were short on them and everyone was most likely asleep at this time anyways.

So, Tim thought back to his days at boarding school. And in PE in the winter, how they always used to repeat one phrase as they did their warmups on the muddy grass.

The more you move, the warmer you will be. 

Maybe now was the time to see how true that statement was.

Slowly he sat up, sliding his feet into his boots as quietly and slowly as possible before standing up - he's seen the downstairs floor littered with glass shards from broken bottles and he didn't exactly fancy his chances with those, even in a building full of people with midwifery and nursing degrees. He reached for his phone and headphones and put them swiftly 

He padded his way down the stairs, the small creaks that were made with each soft step being just quiet enough to make him think he would avoid alerting anyone of his presence. 

Eventually, he made it down to the landing. Remembering where the bedrooms the two groups downstairs were, he picked the furthest room from from them and walked into it, closing the door behind him and picking up his phone from his pocket. He scrolled through his Spotify playlists before settling on one of his more upbeat ones. He pressed play and let the music fill his ears, beginning a slow jog and moving into the routine they'd learned off by heart at school after doing it every physical education lesson without fail.

And so he continued, cycling through the exercises and when he'd done the sequence several times over, began to create a new one. He continued happily like this for half an hour and, admittedly, he felt much warmer. 

He only stopped when he saw a shadow move in he peripheral vision and looked up to see the door swinging open, the ominous figure of Phyliss Crane towering over him. He stood up to face her, and as soon as his eyes met hers he felt instantly smaller. She watched him for a moment before a hint of a smile began to tug at her lips.

"Clearly our schools taught us the same lesson of 'movement keeps you warm.' Does it work?" She enquired. He nodded slowly. 

"Surprisingly... well." He breathed deeply, wiping his brow and pausing his music after noticing the dull thud of the beat could be heard in the background of their midnight conversation. 

"Interesting. Mind if I join you? I haven't got any music of my own but I can follow an imaginary beat rather well." 

Tim deliberated the offer for a moment as he caught his breath. He had never been particularly close to Nurse Crane before, their fleeing conversations were usually only exchanging 'how are you's - he never though a midnight workout was something the two of them would do together. But it would be quite rude of him to say no...

"Of course, though be warned, I only know one full routine."

"Don't worry lad, I know plenty of my own."

\---

Barbra woke up to an empty bed.

She sluggishly reached for her phone, fumbling with it as she picked it up and brought it over to her face. As she turned it on, the bright light momentarily stunned her and caused her to squeeze her eyes shut tight again, but after a few seconds she hesitantly opened them again to check the time. 

2:34AM the clock read.

She'd guessed she probably wouldn't be getting the good nights sleep she usually got, but this was a bit mad. And clearly she wasn't the only one having the same problem, as she reached her arm out to the other side of the bed and only felt empty space.

She thought they would be the ones who would sleep the best initially, to be honest - considering they had the blanket. But clearly the cramped arrangements just didn't work, because Barbra had been endlessly elbowed and shoved as the other two adjusted themselves, causing a mass amount of discomfort and very little decent shut-eye.

But she didn't care about that now. Currently, all she cared about was finding out where in this hovel Trixie and Phyllis were.

Barbra swung herself to the side of the bed and put her slippers on, feeling glad for the warmth they would inevitably give her feet. She stood up and opened the door, beginning her trek around the building.

Phyllis was the easiest to find- she only had to listen closely to hear the thumping of two sets of feet on the floor coming from the room in the corner. She slowly padded over to it and put her eye to the crack between the hinges, smiling as she saw Nurse Crane and Timothy Turner doing some kind of weird exercise routine.

An interesting friendship, but quite a nice one, Barbra thought to herself as she backed away from the door and continued her search.

One down, one to go.

She searched each room thoroughly, checking behind doors and even (she'll admit it wasn't her finest moment of intelligence) checking in the small cupboards in the kitchen to check if Trixie was hiding.

Every room she looked in, her searching got a little more frantic and a little more speedy.

Eventually the only room she hadn't peered in was Val and Lucille's and even though she didn't want to invade their privacy, it was the only room the blonde could possibly be in on this floor.

She swung open the door as quietly as possible and surveyed the scene.

The two women were sleeping peacefully, huddled under Shelagh's green furry coat, both with small smiles on their faces as they hugged each other in their sleep.

Though there was no sign of Trixie, that was undeniably the cutest thing Barbra had seen all day.

She exited the room, closing the door behind her and turning her head to look out of the window onto the back yard. 

The back yard which seemed to be where the small blonde was all this time.

Breathing a silent sigh of relief, Barbra went outside into the cold autumn night, almost regretting her decision when she felt goose bumps start to appear on her skin.

The garden was a small but quaint affair - though the grass was overgrown and ivy was cascading down the shed, it was easily the nicest place. A cracked cobblestone pathway lead down to a murky pond, and small buttercups gave the place a beautifully eerie glow of warmth.

Trixie was sat in the middle of the grass, a cigarette in one shaking hand and the other was running through her hair in an almost frightened way.

Barbra walked hesitantly over to her and took a seat next to her best friend, putting a hand on her shoulder gently.

"You okay, Trix?" 

Trixie nodded, sighing quietly. "Yeah. I'm alright. Thanks Babs."

She took another drag of her cigarette, stubbing it and grabbing her hand to stop it shaking. Barbra, watching this, put her own hand onto Trixie's, causing her friend to ease up a little. 

"I just don't know how we're going to do this, sweetie. It's just so much, a-and I don't think we have enough money and the smell, god the smell..." Trixie mumbled as she rested her head on Barbra's shoulder sorrowfully. Barbra's eyes widened slightly.

"Wait, but you were so hopeful this morning? What happened?"

"I just wanted everyone else to be happy, Barbra. You saw how dismal it was... I don't know why you all believed me. I'm clearly quite good at putting on a show." She laughed half-heartedly.

Barbra knew her friend well - Trixie was always up-beat and vibrant, not at all like the person she was seeing now. And sure, she knew she'd had some... setbacks a few months ago. but that wasn't going to stop her from trying to get her friend's spirit back.

"They believed you ; I believed you, because you were right. Sure, it's going to be tough making this place look like a proper little hotel, but tough has never stopped us before, has it Trix?"

Her friend sniffed and shook her head in reply.

"Exactly! Now, don't stop believing! You've got to hold on to that feeling! " Barbra paused and laughed. "God, I sound like such a cliché right now."

"Okay one, isn't that a song...? And no, no you don't sound like a cliche... well maybe a little. But you sound good." The brunette saw the other give a small smile as she lifted her head from her shoulder.

"Perfect. Well, I have something that might cheer you up - do you fancy coming to see the most unlikely two people bonding over doing exercise to the most awful repetitive beat I've ever heard?" Barbra grinned as she stood up, offering her hand to her counterpart who was still on the grass.

Trixie nodded and took her hand. "I would love too, sweetie." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! any constructive criticism is appreciated greatly! :)) x


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